I do not own Criminal Minds.
"Dave, could I see you in my office?"
Supervisory Special Agent David Rossi tried to ignore the curious stares that were sent in his direction, because honestly, he didn't know what Hotch wanted either. It wasn't often that he was called into the BAU leader's office, and he could almost guarantee that he wasn't in any sort of trouble. He was a Senior SSA after all, once retired, but he certainly didn't make mistakes in his current position. Of course, he knew that there were other possible reasons why Aaron would request his presence in privacy, he just wasn't sure exactly what it was, and neither were his colleagues, not that it was any of their business, though he knew they would try to make it otherwise when they saw it fit.
It was time to go home and Rossi was tired, not that he was going to openly complain. For all he knew, Hotch might have something important to tell him. He cast a glance towards his considerably luckier teammates, who were all packing up for the day and heading out. Naturally, Morgan offered Reid a ride home, which he gratefully accepted. Dave sighed silently and entered the Unit Chief's office.
After walking in and closing the door, He noticed that Hotch was fumbling about with some paperwork, likely his way of waiting 'patiently' for him to arrive. The younger man looked up when he heard the door close, just as the one who came in sat down on one of the two chairs in front of his desk. Rossi sat there expectantly while Aaron shuffled the papers in his hands and sat them down in a neat stack.
"So," The veteran profiler began. "What was it that you wanted to see me for?"
For the first time in a long time since he had known him, Hotch actually looked nervous, his usual stoic expression wasn't even able to overcome the obvious hesitation. Dave was now intrigued to say the least, Aaron was the one who asked for him, so what on Earth could make him look like Reid in front of a large crowd?
"Um, Dave, I need to ask you something." Hotch said, but he looked down at his desk rather than at the person he was speaking to. Wait, now he's refusing to make eye contact? Something's definitely up, perhaps a personal problem of some kind, but Aaron rarely opened up to others about stuff like that.
"Go on." Rossi encouraged, but he soon found himself attempting to profile the man in front of him. The BAU leader gulped, an action he never did. Dave narrowed his eyes in suspicion before Hotch spoke, after that, his eyes were completely wide in shock.
"Dave?" Aaron asked, he had regained his composure after realizing that the older man hadn't responded, in fact, he looked entirely frozen. He now wondered if he'd made a mistake trying to talk to Rossi about this, maybe he should have waited...
(Spencer Reid!)
"Up for another ride home, Pretty Boy?" Morgan asked with a smirk. Reid rolled his eyes, but accepted the offer nonetheless. He hated walking home in the dark. The young genius grabbed his messenger bag while Derek slipped on his jacket and they proceeded to leave. Morgan stopped when he noticed Rossi entering Hotch's office again and shutting the door, while it wasn't every day that he saw the Senior SSA in their leader's office, he was curious as to what would bring him in there a second day in a row. This time, he wasn't even called for, he just went in on his own free will. Obviously, they're talking about something, but what exactly?
Derek wasn't about ready to butt into something that maybe he, as well as the others weren't meant to hear, at least not yet. It could be some more private matter that was none of their concern, even though the BAU was practically family, they still tended to keep secrets from each other, ones which mostly involved personal things, but Hotch never told anyone about personal secrets, not Rossi, that he knew of, and maybe not even Gideon, but it could also be something not so severe. Maybe the two created a new routine just to chat, though the dark skinned agent didn't recall his boss being the type to chat too much.
It took Morgan a moment to realize that his younger co-worker was trying to speak to him. After snapping out of his thoughts, he glanced over at Spencer, who didn't seem to notice what the subject of his attention was on. When he was asked, he shrugged off the question, and he was glad that Reid didn't argue.
Then it happened a third day, and this time, Spencer took notice as well. He even tried to stop the older man to talk to him, but he was surprisingly fast on his feet, and he had less ground to cover between his office and Aaron's, while Reid was below the steps, by his desk. The door shut by the time he was only a few feet away, and the blinds were all down, making it impossible to see inside, but that gave him an opportunity to apply his ear to the door and try to eavesdrop. Morgan eventually joined in, unfortunately, they weren't able to make out every word spoken from within the door.
"What do you mean?" They heard their boss speak.
"I mean...sort of a date night." Rossi's rough, yet semi soft voice spoke.
"What should we do exactly?" Hotch sounded almost unnaturally uncertain.
"Well, there's dinner and a movie...pretty simple."
"I don't know, Dave, what if...doesn't like me? What if it never works out for us?"
"Don't sound like that, Aaron. I'm sure...will love it. I know I would...just give...a chance."
"You have been divorced more than once before though." Hotch pointed out bluntly. Dave was unfazed.
"So? Doesn't mean I can't...give some...love."
Both Derek's and Spencer's eyes widened.
"I just don't know. After Haley died, I didn't think I would go down this road...didn't want to upset anyone."
"Why would they be? I'm sure they'd understand, Aaron. It's not like we haven't had wives before."
"Do you think this will work out between us?" Hotch sounded awfully hesitant.
"Have some confidence, Hotch! I'm sure...enjoy it. I mean, who wouldn't love a man like you?"
"I'll probably need your help on what to wear though."
"I don't have a problem with that, I sometimes get nervous on dates too."
"Great, meet at my house by six Friday evening. I'll send everyone home early that day."
"Sounds like a plan to me." It sounded as if Rossi was smiling. "Every man should have more than one chance at love."
"And I appreciate you helping me get there, Dave."
Morgan and Reid jumped from the door as if it had burnt them. They collided into the railing behind them, but their now aching backsides were the least of their worries.
"Reid," Derek started slowly, still staring at the closed door. "Did Hotch and Rossi just..." He failed to find the words he was looking for.
"I-I, th-think s-s-so." Spencer stuttered, then swallowed a lump in his throat. "What should we do?"
Morgan gripped the metal railing, he had no idea what to do. He was sure that he'd just heard his boss and colleague confirm a romantic date together, and who knows what else they're saying right now.
The two agents had yet to move from their positions, they were still in shock on what they heard. No, it couldn't be true, it just couldn't be. Could it? Aaron Hotchner and David Rossi? So many thoughts and emotions ran through their heads, it nearly made them dizzy.
"Derek... What should we do?" Reid asked again. He wondered why he was even asking this, considering that he was a genius, he should know what to do, but he didn't. As a matter of fact, he never imagined that he'd find himself in such an awkward position. He was startled when Morgan turned to him and gripped his shoulders.
"We make sure that the others don't find out about this, at least not now." He said in a calm, stern voice.
"Why not?" Spencer asked innocently. "They're going to find out anyway."
"Not if we can help it." Derek said with a straight face. "Not that I'm saying that I wouldn't trust the others with this... information, it's just that the last thing we need is for Strauss to find out."
"Oh."
"The girls will get to know eventually." He assured the young doctor. "But now's not a good time, at least until we can be sure Hotch and Rossi were talking about... what we thought they were. There's not enough proof yet."
"I'm pretty sure we heard plenty of proof just a few moments ago."
"We didn't hear everything they said." Morgan argued. "We don't know yet if they're... Unh..." He groaned, finding it difficult to say anything more. Reid gazed over at Aaron's office, where he and Dave still appeared to be chatting. Derek couldn't help but look over as well. They saw the older man pat their boss on the shoulder before they both approached the door. Gasping, Morgan and Spencer rushed to their desks to try and look as if they were doing something else, they held their breath when Rossi spoke to them.
"You boys are still here? I would've thought you'd left by now." He said casually, as if he was not just in his superior's quarters, planning some date. "Especially you, Morgan." He smirked faintly. The dark skinned agent tried to muster up a convincing glare, but it proved to be hard when facing the Senior SSA, who didn't seem to notice, anyway. "I'll see you tomorrow then." He headed toward the elevators, just as Hotch finished locking his office door and had already caught up to him. The BAU leader passed the two younger profilers a glance, then left without a word.
Morgan realized that this is the quietest he'd ever heard the bullpen, considering that they were the only ones here, even the janitor was nowhere to be seen. Some lights off to the side were on, but they didn't significantly light the whole floor. Desks and offices alike were all vacant, except for his and Reid's. Without warning, he made a beeline toward Rossi's office, ignoring his younger friend's protests. Derek tested the handle and was surprised that it moved with ease.
His intent was to find anything incriminating about what he heard from the office next door, he looked around, careful not to disturb anything too noticeable, but he wasn't finding much to begin with. In fact, the room was absent of anything that had to do with what his boss and colleague were discussing a while ago.
Giving in to Spencer's hushed whispers, he sighed and exited the office, shutting the door. He was disappointed that he couldn't find anything. No notes, or anything else of the sort, nothing. Reid relaxed once they began to leave the BAU, he didn't want anyone to get in trouble, plus, they can't be too sure as to what they heard. It could just be a plain misunderstanding, at least he hoped that's what it was. The thought of Aaron and Dave wouldn't leave his mind, and he felt that even if he didn't have an eidetic memory, it would still be there. That was true for Morgan, but things did seem to add up, as much as he wished they didn't. First, it started with Hotch calling Dave into his office, then Rossi goes in there on his own time. But the most damning thing was actually hearing them talk about it. Derek knew denying it himself would do no good. He feared what would become of his two friends, and the team for that matter, should anyone besides them find out about this. With so many thoughts running through his head, he tried to flush what he could out and think about something else. Though he wondered if he should confront to two, or maybe tell Garcia, knowing that she can be very persistent when it comes to things like this. And he also knew that if the others found out about this themselves, and knew that he and Reid had knowledge of it all along, they could be in for a potential chewing out. Maybe they'd even be proud of them? Outside of work, maybe, but both Hotch and Rossi would know well enough that a relationship, especially one like this is very dangerous, their jobs will be at stake, and that could result in the whole team getting split up.
"Hey, Reid?" He asked suddenly.
"Yeah?"
"Here's what we'll do," He exhaled once before continuing. "We'll both keep an eye on Hotch and Rossi, see if they do anything that might further prove..."
"A possible relationship?" Spencer finished with a frown.
"Exactly." Morgan hesitated. He partly wished that a case would come up tomorrow, not that he was hoping for some crazed psycho to hurt innocent people, but a case would delay Aaron's and Rossi's apparent 'date', and it would give him and Reid time to watch them more closely, and maybe they could gather enough courage to try and talk to them.
"I'm still not sure..."
"Think about it, kid. Rossi almost never stays late like that."
"Hotch called him in that one night."
"But he didn't the other two times "
"Mm." Reid mumbled.
After leaving the FBI Headquarters and dropping Spencer off at his apartment, Derek drove to his house, still unsuccessful on relieving his head of today's events. All this happened in a period of three days! Did nobody see the signs? Had this been going on for a while now, and he just now took notice? Did someone else know about this maybe, and they didn't tell anyone? So many thoughts, Morgan was starting to get a headache. He took an aspirin and gulped it down with some water before getting into a clean T-Shirt and sweatpants and going to bed.
(Spencer Reid!)
Derek trudged out of bed, glad that he managed to sleep off his headache, but that was the least of his worries right now. The dark skinned agent took a quick shower and got dressed before heading off to work. Upon entering the doors, he first laid his eyes on Hotch's and Rossi's offices. Shaking his head once before sighing, he was almost to his desk when he began to wonder when and if he should tell the others just yet about what he and Reid heard.
He didn't want to think that anything they had said last night was true, but that nagging feeling saying otherwise stuck to him like glue. He didn't notice Prentiss, who was looking at him with concern.
"Morgan, you feeling okay?"
"Hm? Yeah, fine and dandy. Why?" He tried to sound as convincing as possible.
"Well, nothing really, it's just that you were looking a little... never mind."
Morgan silently cursed to himself, other people are already getting suspicious. Rossi suddenly stepped out into the bullpen, only to go directly to the office next door without saying a word.
"That's the fourth time he's gone in Hotch's office this week." Emily stated. "Do you know what that's all about?" She almost sounded more obvious than curious. Derek blinked. How did Prentiss know this? Unless...
"Reid, I told you not to tell anyone!"
"What? I didn't tell anyone, I swear!"
"Tell anyone what?" The other two profilers froze, realizing their mistake. Morgan almost literary slapped himself, now he could almost guarantee that the rest will find out sooner or later. Replying 'nothing' will most likely not help either. He sighed loudly, trying to think of how he could possibly explain the situation.
"Uh," He started. "Hotch and Rossi..." Reid, help me out here!
"What about them?" The dark haired woman pressed.
"Well-"
"We think they may be having a relationship." Spencer said calmly.
"A what?" She was dumbfounded. "What are you talking about? They'd never do something like that."
"Prentiss," Derek sighed. "We heard them last night, me and Reid both."
"Are you sure?" She asked cautiously. "That just doesn't sound like them. What did they even say?"
"They said something about a dinner, and giving each other a chance to love again, or something like that." He said, Spencer only nodded.
"I'm not convinced." Emily said, folding her arms over her chest.
"Trust me, if you'd been there last night, you would be."
"But still-"
She didn't get to finish when Dave stepped out of Hotch's office, stepping backward, facing their leader. They still appeared to be talking about something, but the noise around the bullpen made it impossible to tell. Rossi shut the door and headed back to his own quarters, he looked quite he walked, he turned his head to the three below the steps.
"Good afternoon, agents. I trust you're having a fairly good day?" He said cheerfully; a little too cheerfully. The veteran profiler smiled, but didn't bother to wait for any kind of response as he retreated. Once he was out of sight, Spencer and Derek shot Prentiss expectant looks.
"Okay, I'll admit that was a little... off for him, but that doesn't mean-"
"Mean what? What's going on?" Garcia suddenly appeared outside her door.
"Nothing." Derek replied bluntly.
"Hmm, doesn't sound like nothing to me." She placed one hand on her hip and waved her finger. "Don't lie to me Derek Morgan."
"Reid and Morgan think that Hotchner and Rossi are in a relationship." Emily explained before she could be stopped. Penelope sputtered and laughed, which brought her a little extra attention from other people on the floor.
"What? Are you guys serious?" She grinned.
"They are." Prentiss shrugged. Derek rubbed his face with his hands while Spencer's face flushed red. Garcia simply giggled.
"For real though?" The quirky woman asked questioningly. "What on Earth made you guys even thinkof something like that?"
A door opened, silencing the technical analyst and three profilers. JJ appeared with an empty coffee mug in her hand, she almost dropped it when she was nearly plowed into by Hotch, who didn't seem to be aware of what he was doing. He was heading straight to the restrooms, but everyone noticed a peculiar red mark on his cheek, though it was hard to tell considering his whole face practically matched the it, as if he was blushing in embarrassment. It wouldn't take a profiler to tell that the usually stoic expressioned Aaron was shameful about something, but if his team wasn't mistaken, that was a kiss mark on his cheek. The BAU leader disappeared around a corner, leaving a confused group behind.
Morgan resumed rubbing his face, Reid exhaled once before gazing down his lap, Emily's and Penelope's jaws hung open, and JJ looked around from person to person.
"Did I miss something?" The media liaison asked warily.
"I'm pretty sure you just saw it." Prentiss said, gazing toward the doors.
Derek and Spencer found themselves in the familiar situation of explaining what they believe has happened to two of their friends. Naturally, JJ didn't believe them at first, but that kiss mark on Aaron's cheek did seem fairly suspicious, that must have been why he was in a hurry to reach the bathroom. Of course, there could have been other reasons, ones that she didn't wish to think about at the moment.
"So, what should we do?" Emily asked.
"Confront them?" Morgan suggested quickly.
"I think we should just stay back." Reid said. "It's not like one of us wouldn't have found out eventually. Besides, I'm sure Hotch and Rossi will tell us themselves when they're ready to. Wouldn't you guys agree?" Everyone except Derek nodded.
"I don't know, Pretty Boy." The dark skinned agent sighed.
"I think Reid's right." Penelope said. "We shouldn't do anything that might wreck their relationship, we should be happy when and if they do tell us." This time, Morgan nodded along with the others.
"I suppose you guys are right." He sounded almost defeated. "We'll keep this on the down low until then, but we certainly cannot let Strauss find out about this."
"For sure." Spencer agreed.
As the day progressed, the BAU couldn't remember the last time a whole week went by without a case coming to their doorstep, in fact, it made them a little unnerved at the very thought, not that any of them were complaining of the semi break they were receiving, but paperwork could get pretty boring after a while, for some anyway. Everything was going to plan for the Unit Chief Aaron Hotchner and Senior SSA David Rossi, the team was sent home early on the Friday evening, leaving the two older men to proceed with their mission.
Derek desperately wanted to follow them when they left, but a lecture from Garcia made him reconsider. The technical analyst then suggested going out for drinks, hoping to cheer up her Chocolate Thunder a little. Smiling, the offer was accepted, by Emily and JJ too. As expected, Spencer declined, but some persistent, yet playful words from the others left the young genius with no actual choice. The group, along with a reluctant Reid all drove to a nearby bar where Penelope proposed a toast to "Boss man and Rossi, a hopefully happy couple." Everyone replied "Cheers" without a moments hesitation.
(Spencer Reid!)
The weekend went by, just as quiet as the previous five days. When Monday arrived, the team was surprisingly eager to know how the night went for two of their friends. Hours went by, both of them remained rather secluded in their offices, the rest feared if they stepped inside one of them, they wouldn't live to make it out. Why exactly? They weren't sure, but something just felt very off, more so than yesterday. The day went by almost too slowly, the air was thick and the waiting was agonizing. Finally, just as it was time to clock out, both Aaron and Dave stepped out into the bullpen, Garcia was the first to reach them, her face nearly touching theirs before she sheepishly apologized and moved back. Soon, JJ and Prentiss joined the quirky blonde while Morgan and Reid stayed by their desks. Hotch and Rossi shot the girls quizzical looks before Penelope spoke.
"Okay, so I know you guys will probably have lots of questions after we ask you some, considering you're probably freaked out by now with all of us here and- Sorry, I'll get to the point. How did the date go?" Hotch's eyes widened a little, but Rossi kept his emotions in check.
"How'd you find out about it?" He calmly demanded. Garcia shrunk back a little under his stern glare before she cleared her throat and gazed over to where Derek and Spencer still stood.
"Well, no use crying over spilled milk, Aaron." Dave patted the younger man on the shoulder. A seemingly innocent gesture that caught the others' attention.
"I suppose so." He sighed. Garcia clasped her hands together in anticipation, eager to hear what has yet to come.
"How did the night go for you two?" Emily asked.
"It went well for a while... But things sort of went downhill soon after." Hotch answered quietly.
"What happened?" JJ decided to test the boundaries, hoping she wouldn't hit a possible sensitive spot. Rossi has yet to say anything, so Aaron continued hesitantly.
"I was too old."
"Too old?" Reid questioned.
"Isn't Rossi older than you?" Derek asked.
"Thanks, Morgan." The veteran profiler grumbled.
"Apparently, she didn't realize my age until later." Hotch explained, glancing at the floor.
"Wow, I can't believe that Dave- Wait a minute, 'she'?" Garcia looked as surprised as ever, so did the others, except Rossi. Hotch met eyes with one another and raised an eyebrow.
"What, did you think I was dating a man?".The sarcasm in his voice was impossible to miss.
"Well, we did actually." JJ admitted, her cheeks began to turn red. "But only because Derek and Spence..."
"What was her name anyway?" Penelope asked after noticing her boss's somewhat down mood.
"Carson. Kelly Carson." He mumbled.
"She was a rather snooty woman anyway." Dave said. Garcia then grinned evilly as she gestured to her computers, which were still on and running.
"Shall I destroy her life?"
A mere hint of a smile formed on Aaron's face. "Thanks, but maybe another time."
"Hold the phone," Derek said, raising his hand slightly. "What the heck were you doing in his office all those times then, Rossi?" The question caused the two to look at each other before the Unit Chief sighed.
"Dave was giving me dating advice."
"Dating advice?" The others exclaimed in unison.
"Yep." Rossi exhaled. "Granted, I've been divorced three times, but that doesn't mean I can't teach another man with less experience."
"Wait," Prentiss pointed a finger at the two men below. "You guys are the ones who told us that Hotch and Rossi were..."
"Uh..." Morgan rubbed the back of his neck nervously while Reid twiddled his fingers, looking like he could pass out any second from pure embarrassment. The others shot them a series of stares.
"Oh, gee kid, look at the time! I should drive you home now so I, uh, don't miss my show!" The dark skinned agent blurted out, while the thinner man beside him nodded ferociously.
"Sounds like a plan to me! Let's go." The two profilers rushed out the doors, leaving a cloud of dust behind. JJ clasped a hand over her mouth and coughed, using her free hand to wave away the particles. Garcia wobbled slightly on her feet before she slowly took steps forward.
"Uh, yeah, I think I'll head home too now." She muttered, not passing so much as a glance to the remainder of the team, mostly to hide her crimson face. JJ started to follow.
"I should get home to see Henry before Will puts him to bed." She said, Rossi was certain that the media liaison stopped blinking for a moment. Unsurprisingly, Prentiss wasn't far behind.
"I better head out as well, I, um, forgot to feed Sergio this morning." One by one, the girls went through the twin glass doors and disappeared behind a corner. Aaron and Dave stood there in the now empty bullpen for a long while, taking note of Morgan's jacket and Reid's messenger bag that hung on the chairs of their respective desks, as well as Garcia's computers which she left on, before looking at each other, smirks plastered on their faces as they tried not to laugh. Rossi was the less successful of the two.
"Can you believe those people, Aaron? They actually-"
"Thought that you and I were in a relationship? Together?" His rarely seen smirk never budged.
"Perish the thought!" The older man guffawed. Hotch found himself chuckling. "Hotchner, I'll tell you what, we work with a crazy bunch of people."
"We get the job done though." The BAU leader smiled.
"Indeed." He nodded. "So, what do you say we go get ourselves a drink? You might actually find someone right for you there."
"At a bar, Dave? Really now..." Aaron continued to chuckle.
"Who knows?" Rossi shrugged.
Together, the two aged FBI agents headed out, their laughter echoing around the empty floor.
The End!
I had some trouble at some points while writing this, I got stuck and ended up with whatever came to mind, other spots, I whizzed through without much of a problem. It did seem like it took forever to finish, but I finally managed. :P
Regardless, I hope you enjoyed!
The idea of this fic came from the season five episode "The Internet is Forever" which where Rossi reads two posts from a social networking website while trying to understand the purpose of said sites, one of them that says a funny line; "Boss is keeping me late at work. Grr."